John Reeves is recorded in the 1850 census in Buncombe, Independence County, Arkansas along with his son William Terrell Reeves and brothers Gaston and Terrell.

By 1860, John's wife Elizabeth with Albert and Ira Ann Reeves are found in the census of Newton County, Arkansas living a few residences away from her daughters Jincy Reeves Villines and Jane Reeves Goodnight, indicating that John was probably deceased by that time.